"Me? I know who I am! I'm a dude playing a dude disguised as another dude.

This song has been on the intro on some of the Youtube video's I regularly watch and I can't get the song off the brain:

Life Update

I'm using sick and snowy day to finally sit down and write an update. Well I have been away from Facebook for a long time and I don't plan on returning to post.  My criticism of how Facebook (and Instagram) is unethical has only been backed up by reports in recent years. However, I'll use Facebook like most people use Twitter to post their Instagram links. For those interested here are some updates in my life.

Personal Life

I lean very introverted and I keep my personal life fairly private.  I was not for posting my life on Facebook to begin with. So here are some updates for those interested.

I am married!  Married to this beautiful woman, Sung Hyun. Well the "official" wedding will be in Korea next year but we had a small ceremony with family. God has brought into my life the most amazing woman who was made for me and I for her. 

 

We dated for a time long distance, but God has made a way for us to close the distance and marry.  This was after she came to New Mexico to visit my family and I went to Korea to visit her family. 

And now the married life with dog (but no kids yet).  I have been praying for my wife for a long time and that wait was worth it.  She is my wife and best friend.  I love her family and she loves my family. 

God has guided and led us in so many ways.  I am so blessed to have this amazing woman in my life. Ecclesiastes 4:12.  And doggo, Mondu (만두, Korean for dumpling) too. =) 

I hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas and a happy New Year!!!

P.S. It's best to send me email, I don't use messenger.  tedrohe@gmail.com or text me, I'm still at the same number.  

Apologies Accepted

When Starbucks doesn't believe you when you say "no cheese" but you sadly inform them that it's true.

Stan Lee, Excelsior - My Tribute

Excelsior - 

Where did your catch phrase "Excelsior!" come from?
I used to have a lot of expressions that I would end my comic book columns with: Hang Loose, Face Front, 'Nuff Said, and I found that the competition was always imitating them and using them. So, I said I'm going to get one expression that they're not going to know what it means, and they won't know how to spell it. And that's where excelsior came from, and they never did take up on it, thank goodness.

Source: Stan Lee Shouts 'Excelsior!'

A lot of tributes have come out recently on Stan, "The Man" Lee from a great tribute from New Mexican, George R. R. Martian on his blog entry "Farewell to a Marvel" to Bill Maher's condescending opinion on what is or is not good art (when is comedic talent is the artistic equivalent of Tiny Tim's music).  

I was first introduced to Stan Lee from comic books, but his voice and famous catch phrase came from my Saturday Morning's watching Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends.

You can listen to the audio to snack on some "member berries":

http://www.spider-friends.com/BuenaVista/StanLeeNarrations.html

While a lot of the writings on Stan Lee go from him being a genius to an attention seeking salesman who was taking credit for other people's creations, I can say that Stan's creative salesman side and his contribution is something that Marvel couldn't do without as much as their artists and writers.  For myself, Stan was the narrator for my favorite super hero, Spidey, in bringing this great character with character challenges in his various evolutions from Comic, TV, and the big screen.

Hearing what was happening to Stan after losing his wife, being taken advantage of I was always praying for Stan to have a happy ending in this life and the next.  True Believers, he seemed to in this life and I hope the next as well.   -nuff said.

Facebook

I didn't unplug from Facebook, I just let my account hibernate and I also hibernated personally.  There are several reasons I did it, but I probably did it for too long, too suddenly and too completely. My reasons are my own and personal, but I will share a few below: 

• Most basic, I'm an introvert and I needed time alone. To think about a lot of things, pray about a lot of things, and just try to simplify my life on some level.
• I was never a fan of FB even when I first joined it in 2007.  The layout and options never allowed for much creativity. FB like google is an aggregator of data for ads, but unlike google Facebook sucked up the CCP (Chinese Communist Party), it uses it's feed to test it's effects on people (guinea pigs), and it owns anything you post.  I'm not saying google or twitter is any better, but at least philosophically I'll go more with the company that at least says "do no harm." 
• "If you don't have something nice to post, don't post anything at all." This political season seemed to make the "duck season" and "rabbit season" version of Facebook looney tunes go into overdrive.  The divisions are real and deep.  I didn't seek to make it any worse with my words and I had nothing to add that wasn't already said by someone already. I voted for Gary Johnson and left the Republican party. So that that for what it's worth which is not a whole lot. 
• Even without this election, social media brings a disconnect (irony) between people (I'm guilty) where even the nicest person has a troll nature (the flesh) that pops out from under the bridge to show their teeth. I've seen it, family against family. Friend against friend. Christian against Christian.  Not to say that wouldn't happen in person and if not even more heated, but at least you see the real consequences of what you say to that person right that.  It is more real. I'm not saying don't post or discuss, but think about it.  Speak truth in love and try to see things from their point of view. 

All that said, I'm not so much "back" on Facebook.  I'm not going to post anything directly on here.  If I do it will be indirectly from another site.  So I at least have some control over my posts. I will comment more on peoples posts.  I don't have Facebook on my phone or messenger on my phone.  So try to email me or text me. If I live near you, rather than message on here let's talk over coffee, beer or some food. If I don't live near you, please feel free to message me. 

Cuba & Obama Chasing Legacy

Every U.S. President seeks to establish their legacy.  Obama is no different than any President from either party.  This in itself isn't a problem unless chasing a legacy hurts the U.S. position and hurts others.  Sadly, I feel Obama has done this in normalizing relations with Cuba at a time that hurts those seeking freedom in Cuba, U.S. leverage with Cuba, and seems to only help Cuba.  Here are the reasons:

• Cuba seems to always have a beneficiary country - Soviet Union, Russia and then Venezuela.
• Venezuela is teetering toward collapse so the oil & money they have been sending to Cuba is down to a drip or nothing.
• This is why Raul Castro decided to be more open with the U.S. just as Obama was seeking to cement his legacy while new generations of Americans and Cubans were open to this normalization.
• Obama missed an opportunity with a Castro brother stepping down in 2018 in his old age and Venezuela near collapse to leverage concessions by Cuba to open as far as political and economic freedoms for the common Cuban.  Obama could not wait that long to cement his legacy and this ultimately may have hurt Cubans in the long run and any leverage the U.S. may have had.  
• If anyone thinks China or Russia may have come to the rescue, it is unlikely Russia or China would have given much if anything as pouring more money into Cuba by Russia again or China giving loans to Cuba (as it mistakenly did with an oil filled Venezuela) would have been a safe risk to take by the U.S. 
• Appeasement rarely works in foreign policy toward dictators and authoritarian regimes. We saw this with Soviet Russia, Nazi Germany, and today with Communist China or Islamic Revolutionary Iran. 
• Now with the death of Castro, the Cuban government has no reason to make any movement toward more freedom other than what is politically expedient for those in power.
• Had we possibly waited a year to approach normalization or more, than we would have had a Cuba without it's ideological head (Fidel), it's economic life line (Venezuela), and a lame old duck leader (Raul). This is the leverage the US could have used to help the Cuban people immediately and long term.

Serendipity: Magnolia & Radiohead

I have been chippin' away watching Paul Thomas Anderson's classic Magnolia as I saw it listed on HBO Go.  Such a great film and one of those films with a Christian theme and symbolism that one could overlook if they either aren't Christian or aren't looking for it. That was the case for me when this film came out about the time right before or maybe right after I came to Christ.  This is my first time watching it fully after all these years. Such a great film.

Right after watching the film I do a google search on Paul Thomas Anderson and realize the new Radiohead video Daydreaming that came out yesterday was directed by him.  After just watching the film you can see some similar distinctive Paul Thomas Anderson shots in the music video that I had just watched in the film.